Trimming the trees

[ktinkel]

Today the arborists are working on our trees. I love watching these men work. It is almost like aerialists except, of course, they carry chainsaws and haul heavy limbs around.

We needed to raise the canopy on several large trees. One maple had branches that actually rested on the glass roof in my office. The other maple — the huge one that frames our view of the river and is itself a sculptural object that we love to look at — developed a big hole in the side of the main trunk. Another tree service agent said we would need to fill it and cable the tree. The people here today (which we had used in the past) said it had healed itself, and no care was needed.

An oak down by the water had developed a lot of lateral branches so we had those trimmed off so we could see better. And to shape the tree, which is a mere 20 years old, so it will hold a lovely oaky urn shape in the future.

I notice that they cut off limbs so that there is a stub, angled downwards to facilitate run-off in the rain. The hole in the old maple was probably made by cutting too close, or even leaving an indention, so that water gradually eroded it, making an opening in the trunk that runs down a foot or more. I see quite a few indented spots in these old trees, but nothing to do about them now. They also do not paint the scar; they leave healing to good old Mother Nature.

Meanwhile, we have this wonderful theater going on outside our windows.

It is a ferociously hot day. Supposed to be in the 90s, and already very humid. Not sure how these men do it. They are young — the company manager, now 53, has retired from climbing. But it is still hot. They do drink a lot of water!

[annc]

I notice that they cut off limbs so that there is a stub, angled downwards to facilitate run-off in the rain.And by starting that angled cut at exactly the right place, they avoid unwanted shoots growing around the cut. The arborists I use on my several large trees also don't paint the cuts, and I've never had any problems with fungal infections.

[Michael Rowley]

Today the arborists are working on our treesAre they tree-surgeons with degrees from the University of Michigan?

[George]

But I thought trees could only be trimmed in the spring???

I was going to do some trees this spring, along with a long list of other projects, but my contractor told me to wait til he could get me a real deal on some parts prices (he has his ways, and it seems we've become friends, as he even invited me to his son's baptism. I do like him very much) -- and now spring is long gone, but I'm sure he'll be in before the fall.

He told me he will use a chain saw if that is what I want, but he has another kind of saw that works better - :confused:

In the summer, when I sit on my front porch, there is an opening in the sky between the branches of two maple trees, and just there the big dipper sits. It's so neat, like it was created for me somehow... but I haven't sat out this year... well, maybe tonight.

George

[ktinkel]

But I thought trees could only be trimmed in the spring???I have never heard that, but am far from being a tree expert.

You need to prune some shrubs at specific times: lilacs and rhododendrons right after they flower, for example — before they set next year’s buds.

[John Spragens]

Getting some tree work done here, too, and the guy who was out to assess things and write up the estimate was also giving some free advice on work I can do myself. He was saying that for my apple trees, there are two kinds of pruning. Winter pruning is done to encourage growth. Summer pruning is done to tell the tree where not to grow. Haven't quite wrapped my mind around that, but I'm supposed to get a bit of a tutorial while they're pruning my 2-year-old apples.

These folks were here earlier to do a crown reduction on a big walnut that was shading the part of the roof where I had solar panels installed. It really was fun to watch. They didn't use a ladder even to get up into the tree. Swung a line over a branch and hauled themselves up. They had a ladder with them, but the only thing they used it for was to keep falling branches from hitting the cold frame in my veggie garden.

[Steve Rindsberg]

That'd be anarborists, no?

[ktinkel]

Getting some tree work done here, too, and the guy who was out to assess things and write up the estimate was also giving some free advice on work I can do myself. He was saying that for my apple trees, there are two kinds of pruning. Winter pruning is done to encourage growth. Summer pruning is done to tell the tree where not to grow. Haven't quite wrapped my mind around that, but I'm supposed to get a bit of a tutorial while they're pruning my 2-year-old apples.

These folks were here earlier to do a crown reduction on a big walnut that was shading the part of the roof where I had solar panels installed. It really was fun to watch. They didn't use a ladder even to get up into the tree. Swung a line over a branch and hauled themselves up. They had a ladder with them, but the only thing they used it for was to keep falling branches from hitting the cold frame in my veggie garden.Oooh — apple trees! That would be lovely. Or pears. Or cherries. We just have maple (swamp and red), red oak, mulberries (the tree guy calls them junk trees and didn’t offer to prune them), pine (gigantic, kind of sad-looking but healthy we are told; makes profuse, large pinecones), and miscellaneous trees.

I think your guy means that during the summer trees favor easy growth. So all they do to wounds is encapsulate and protect them, but the pruning does not encourage growth nearby. Next year there may be some shoots. Pruning plants during their growth season fosters stronger growth in what remains; do it in the spring to have lush shrubs. So long as they did not set flowers at the end of last year’s growing season — then you get no flowers for a year.

Our guy also pulled himself up by ropes, made a sort of sling or cradle, and sat up there, using the saw and smaller hand tools. Another guy attacked slender growth from the ground, using a 7-inch blade on a 10-foot pole (guessing at the lengths of both). Very instructive to watch both of them.

Sounds like you’re a serious gardener. :)

[John Spragens]

A student gardener. Sophomore. After years in an urban apartment, I have a house with a real yard now, and I'm enjoying the chance to experiment. Still weeks away from tomatoes in this Oregon climate, but I'm eating beans, broccoli, zucchini, carrots and potatoes regularly these days.

[ktinkel]

A student gardener. Sophomore. After years in an urban apartment, I have a house with a real yard now, and I'm enjoying the chance to experiment. Still weeks away from tomatoes in this Oregon climate, but I'm eating beans, broccoli, zucchini, carrots and potatoes regularly these days.Ah — Oregon. I am a PNW girl. Oregon is a nice place, and lots of things seem to grow there.

I would rather be gardening in Oregon than in Connecticut. I have terrible luck with tomatoes here. The ones I get from local farmers, even heirlooms, seem watery and lacking in that magical flavor. But this climate does well with other crops.

Fresh-dug potatoes are a joy. I should go check around, see if I can buy some of those yet. Mostly I am seeing blueberries, greens, radishes, cucumbers, zucchini and yellow squash, and a few not-so-great tomatoes and string beans. Still, all better than supermarket offerings.

Our property is terraced, decked, treed, and on a river, all of which mitigate against serious vegetable growing. One year I put tomatoes in tubs down by the water (to get the sun) and the constant breeze made the skins about a quarter of an inch thick and really tough. Critters wandered around taking bites out of the fruit. Slugs munch on my basil plants, no matter where I put them, in tubs or in the ground. The only thing that grows really well is sage — and Jack hates its flavor, so I use maybe 6 little leaves a year. Meanwhile it has almost driven out the other useful herb, chives, and looks ready to go on and uproot the house!

So enjoy your garden!

[Michael Rowley]

KT:

Slugs munch on my basil plants, no matter where I put them, in tubs or in the groundTry the windowsill of your kitchen.

[John Spragens]

I hear you on the midnight skulkers. I think I'm going to give up on strawberries. Something eats most of them a day or two before they're ripe enough to pick. May be the same critter that dug out three of my onion sets neat as you please for a late-night snack. Looked like the kinds of holes squirrels might have dug, but bigger. Maybe a raccoon.

The previous owner left me with good plantings of rosemary, sage, and oregano just off the back stoop. Had really bad luck with basil last year. Doing better this year. But it really wants a warmer and wetter climate than we have here.

[terrie]

steve: That'd be anarborists, no?ROFL!!! '-}}

Terrie

[ktinkel]

Oh, yes — strawberries are often a tragedy. If they are not eaten by critters in the dark, you get a heavy rain just as they ripen and they all turn to mush.

Ah well, guess there is a reason most of us are not farmers, though our ancestors may have been!

[cdanddvdpublisher]

That'd be anarborists, no?

i think it would be...

[Mike]

KT:

Try the windowsill of your kitchen.

What? Encourage the slugs to come indoors? Yuk!

[annc]

That'd be anarborists, no?I hate to admit this, but that whizzed right by me when I read it this morning, and it was only this evening, when I read the replies, that the penny dropped.

I plead southern hemispheritis. :)

[Michael Rowley]

Ann:

I plead southern hemispheritisNot a sufficient excuse for a librarian, who must have come across Ann Arbor in lists—of authors!

[ktinkel]

What? Encourage the slugs to come indoors? Yuk!Amen! Besides, we don’t have windowsills.

[Steve Rindsberg]

The famed "In a Storm" by Annie Arbor?

[Michael Rowley]

Steve:

The famed "In a Storm" by Annie Arbor?I hadn't heard of that book; I thought she had just written a number of research papers. But who knows what she has written in her free time? She's proved very versatile.

[Steve Rindsberg]

Steve:

I hadn't heard of that book; I thought she had just written a number of research papers. But who knows what she has written in her free time? She's proved very versatile.
Michael,

She may've written "In a Storm" under the pseudonym Annie Port.

[Michael Rowley]

Steve:

She may've written "In a Storm" under the pseudonym Annie PortAh! That may be the explanation; it's usually wise to choose a choose a pen name for one's lighter work.

[John Spragens]

By the way, here's what some of the tree-trimming crew here does on the side:
http://www.opb.org/programs/ofg/videos/view/62-Tree-Top-Tour

[dthomsen8]

I hear you on the midnight skulkers. I think I'm going to give up on strawberries. Something eats most of them a day or two before they're ripe enough to pick. May be the same critter that dug out three of my onion sets neat as you please for a late-night snack. Looked like the kinds of holes squirrels might have dug, but bigger. Maybe a raccoon.

The previous owner left me with good plantings of rosemary, sage, and oregano just off the back stoop. Had really bad luck with basil last year. Doing better this year. But it really wants a warmer and wetter climate than we have here.My wife's strawberries were fine in hanging pots. Last year she had a lot of trouble with squirrels, but this year she didn't plant much, because we will be in Malaysia for most of August.

[dthomsen8]

"The Wild Trees" by Richard Preston is a fascinating non-fiction book on tree climbing on the Pacific coast, mostly Redwoods, and also in Scotland. Perhaps more than some readers want to know about tree climbing techniques and the people who climb trees, either as a hobby or as professional tree botanists, but still a well written and researched book.

ISBN 1400064899 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400064899/ref=nosim/librarythin08-20)

[ktinkel]

By the way, here's what some of the tree-trimming crew here does on the side:
http://www.opb.org/programs/ofg/videos/view/62-Tree-Top-TourNeat.

[ktinkel]

I hear you on the midnight skulkers. I think I'm going to give up on strawberries. Something eats most of them a day or two before they're ripe enough to pick. May be the same critter that dug out three of my onion sets neat as you please for a late-night snack. Looked like the kinds of holes squirrels might have dug, but bigger. Maybe a raccoon.Squirrels dug up about half of my garlic last year. I watched them do it. When I was close enough, I threatened them, but most of the time they couldn’t see or hear me (I was in bed upstairs), and they had their way with the plants.

The previous owner left me with good plantings of rosemary, sage, and oregano just off the back stoop. Had really bad luck with basil last year. Doing better this year. But it really wants a warmer and wetter climate than we have here.I can’t keep rosemary growing, unfortunately. People across Long Island Sound (on the New York side) do keep it growing; the difference half a climate can make. Someone here grows basil successfully — you can get it for a song at the farmers’s markets. But I can’t. :(

[Steve Rindsberg]

Steve:

Ah! That may be the explanation; it's usually wise to choose a choose a pen name for one's lighter work.
I'm not sure I'd want to be piloting a lighter in a storm, but perhaps so.

[John Spragens]

Nifty idea. I wouldn't have thought of hanging pots for strawberries. Maybe ...

[John Spragens]

No raiders in my garlic. I wasn't sure how it would do, so I didn't plant much. But it thrived and was no work at all. I'll do a bigger planting next year.

So true about inexpensive basil in the farmers' market. Here, though, there's nobody selling Thai basil or lemon basil, two of my favorites. But I can buy starts for both in the spring. That makes it worth the trouble to learn how to grow it.

[Bo Aakerstrom]

Until recently we lived in a top floor maisonette and since my wife is a keen gardener our balcony was full of things growing in pots (strawberries, a peach tree, apple trees and much more). Now we have moved to a house with a lovely garden - unfortunatley we also have company in the form of slugs, and lots of them. They eat everything in sight!

Perhaps we could export them to France where there is a shortage...

[terrie]

bo: unfortunatley we also have company in the form of slugs, and lots of them. They eat everything in sight!Am I remembering correctly that people put out small bowls of beer to attract the slugs and keep them away from plants? Perhaps putting the bowls of beer out in your garden and then moving the bowls each day further away from the garden will "move" the slugs?

Terrie

[ktinkel]

Until recently we lived in a top floor maisonette and since my wife is a keen gardener our balcony was full of things growing in pots (strawberries, a peach tree, apple trees and much more). Now we have moved to a house with a lovely garden - unfortunatley we also have company in the form of slugs, and lots of them. They eat everything in sight!Years ago (1976) I wrote a book called Rooftop Gardening (http://www.oldcornerbooks.com/cgi-bin/fgb455/37315). I wangled invitations to incredible gardens, including several on loft roofs in the district just then becoming SoHo in NYC (where we lived).

One was the roof of a double-size loft building (50 X 200 feet or more), a mini-farm with the usual city shrubs and flowers plus cantaloupes, corn, onions, potatoes, willow trees, bamboo, and more that I have forgotten. I used to grow tomatoes, peppers, and herbs on our fire escape (strictly forbidden, of course; we also kept a small hibachi there for grilling). We would be better off here if we could find space for containers — I understand how to get things to grow in boxes. Not, evidently, in the ground. :(

Perhaps we could export them to France where there is a shortage...Of slugs?

[ktinkel]

No raiders in my garlic. I wasn't sure how it would do, so I didn't plant much. But it thrived and was no work at all. I'll do a bigger planting next year.

So true about inexpensive basil in the farmers' market. Here, though, there's nobody selling Thai basil or lemon basil, two of my favorites. But I can buy starts for both in the spring. That makes it worth the trouble to learn how to grow it.The market we usually go to is dominated by produce from two fairly large farms (the kind that have picking farms for berries in the spring and apples in the fall). But one other one has some more experimental farmers, and they usually have Thai basil and sell garlic scapes when they come out, stuff like that.

[Bo Aakerstrom]

Am I remembering correctly that people put out small bowls of beer to attract the slugs and keep them away from plants? Perhaps putting the bowls of beer out in your garden and then moving the bowls each day further away from the garden will "move" the slugs?

Terrie
It might, if I didn't get there first.:)

[Bo Aakerstrom]

Not slugs, snails (I was only jesting). This blog (http://www.whytraveltofrance.com/2008/07/19/crisis-in-france-snail-shortage/) referes to an article in The Independent newspaper.

[ktinkel]

Not slugs, snails (I was only jesting). This blog (http://www.whytraveltofrance.com/2008/07/19/crisis-in-france-snail-shortage/) referes to an article in The Independent newspaper.Whew! :)

[Steve Rindsberg]

May as well drink the beer for all the good it does with the slugs around here.

Helen used to use diatomaceous earth on them. That seemed to work fairly well.

[terrie]

bo: It might, if I didn't get there first.:)LOL!!! I've never cared for beer so it would be no big loss for me to put it out but I guess if you are a beer lover then buying the really cheap stuff would be the best thing to do so you wouldn't feel like you were wasting it...'-}}

Terrie

[terrie]

steve: Helen used to use diatomaceous earth on them. That seemed to work fairly well.Good stuff! Where does she get it--health food store or???

Terrie

[Steve Rindsberg]

Garden store, I think. We have a deal. I go in the garden when she needs earth moved, stones dislodged or heavy stuff lugged. Otherwise, look but don't touch.

[terrie]

steve:Garden store, I think. Ahhh...interesting...didn't know you could get it there...


>>We have a deal. I go in the garden when she needs earth moved, stones dislodged or heavy stuff lugged. Otherwise, look but don't touch.

LOL!!

Terrie

[DTP Guy]

Another tip I picked up from one of our many gardening programs on the TV is to use old coffee grounds on the earth around the plants you want to protect. Apparently slugs and snails do not have the same taste for coffee as we do!

[ktinkel]

Another tip I picked up from one of our many gardening programs on the TV is to use old coffee grounds on the earth around the plants you want to protect. Apparently slugs and snails do not have the same taste for coffee as we do!My mother used to put coffee grounds in the garden. We didn’t have slugs (one of the virtues of life in Alaska — many common pests can’t take the weather most of the year). I think she did it as a sort of fertilizer.

I’ll try to remember to do that.

[ElyseC]

My mother used to put coffee grounds in the garden. We didn’t have slugs (one of the virtues of life in Alaska — many common pests can’t take the weather most of the year). I think she did it as a sort of fertilizer.

I’ll try to remember to do that.And if you don't have enough coffee grounds to do the job, check your local Starbucks. We've often seen a stack of used grounds sealed in bags by the door with a sign to take for free for you garden. We compost, so whenever we see those bags we grab them and dump into our two composting units. Heh, even on our drive back from our Wyoming trip a year ago we dragged home a bunch of bags of used Starbucks grounds we saw by the door during a refreshment stop.

[annc]

And if you don't have enough coffee grounds to do the job, check your local Starbucks. Has your Starbucks survived? They're falling like flies here...

[ElyseC]

Has your Starbucks survived? They're falling like flies here...I've heard they are closing in some places, but the ones I know of in the nearest city are all still in business as far as I can tell. They didn't saturate the area like they have in dense metro areas like San Francisco. Last time I was in SF I was astounded by the number of Starbucks — it seemed there was at least one in every single city block downtown.

Around here, though, are some very nice, very popular, independent coffee houses and at least two local commercial coffee roasters supplying them as well as the natural/organic foods markets and more discriminating restaurants (who usually order custom blends).

[George]

I've heard they are closing in some places, but the ones I know of in the nearest city are all still in business as far as I can tell.

At the main business intersection closest to my house there are three, each within 200 feet of the next.

George

Oh, maybe, it's 300 feet.

[annc]

At the main business intersection closest to my house there are three, each within 200 feet of the next.

George

Oh, maybe, it's 300 feet.That sounds a bit excessive. Is it a very crowded place?

[George]

That sounds a bit excessive. Is it a very crowded place?

Not really. Three of the corners of the intersection have strip malls, and the fourth has a combination strip mall with condominiums. There's banks, lots of restaurants, supermarkets, a discount department store etc., etc., but all a low key, outside edge business adventure.

Actually where I live there are almost no true restaurants, but really just places to eat. But there are coffee shops all over the place, not just Starbucks. I don't know what that is about, as it is more of a European style coffee. I prefer donuts and regular American coffee...but I guess that's too working class like or something. Suits me.

But they talk on TV about an economic slow down in America. It's hard to understand because there are real indications of a business slow down, but the media was trying to talk people into it happening way before it began, and they always explain when pained to mention positive economic factors going on, that experts hold these are not significant. It's hard to assess. But there sure is no slow down where I am at.... So why close anything.

George

[ElyseC]

But they talk on TV about an economic slow down in America. It's hard to understand because there are real indications of a business slow down, but the media was trying to talk people into it happening way before it began, and they always explain when pained to mention positive economic factors going on, that experts hold these are not significant. It's hard to assess. But there sure is no slow down where I am at.... So why close anything.Until the floods here, no sign of any economic slow down. However, as you'd expect, a lot of businesses have closed from the floods -- some temporarily as they rebuild and restructure, others permanently. :(

[Richard Waller]

UK Starbucks are offering free refills of filter which is nice.

Interesting demand pricing at coffee shops. Filter is at a competitive price for those that want a quick boost of caffein. But there are a wide range of exotics whose names require research, at twice the price, for those that think their image is important, or want to spoil themselves.

[annc]

It certainly sounds as if the general public in your area still have the confidence to buy their coffees in single doses as they need them, perhaps because they're in a business area where everyone is fully employed.

[George]

It certainly sounds as if the general public in your area still have the confidence to buy their coffees in single doses as they need them, perhaps because they're in a business area where everyone is fully employed.

No, it's not a business area. However, when I first moved here it was fields of cows, horses, and dirt roads remained, no street lights, and that, indeed, is all gone. It has built up. Nationally, the unemployment rate is still under the 30 year average. And, I think it is still within the proper definition of frictional--but what is that now?? 3% no longer applies, as work habits in our times are completely different.

However, perhaps, we will go into a recession; there are some negative indicators, but it actually just hasn't happened yet. Locally, it seems like nothing has changed... except one thing I noticed a few weeks ago...instead of most of the vehicles on the streets being large gas guzzling SUVs, there are a lot more sedans now. People must have been hiding them at home. But of course, sedans are all I've ever driven, but I've always been completely comfortable going around town.

However, in reality there probably are some changes, that I just haven't noticed, like new construction starts. But after they kicked out the illegals, there wasn't enough workers to build anything anyway. But the part I didn't like is not being able to buy a burrito at Taco Bell, cause there was no one to run the kitchen.

George